Monday 11 December 2017 10:54, UK
Tim Paine expects Australia's sledging of England players to continue for the rest of the Ashes series and does not think it has crossed the line so far.
Jonny Bairstow has said he will "take matters further" if the sledging "crossed the line" again, but Paine has dismissed such talk and claims his side's on-field behaviour has been perfectly acceptable.
Speaking ahead of the third Test in Perth on Thursday, Paine said: "I certainly haven't heard anything that's crossed the line since I've been out there, it might have been between overs or I might have been down the other end, I'm not too sure, but there's been nothing that I've heard that's been too untoward or anything that's been particularly nasty, it's just been tough Test match cricket."
Paine was involved in an incident with Joe Root in the second Test when the England captain gestured at him with his bat, but the wicketkeeper played down the incident.
The 33-year-old added: "Again there wasn't too much too it, I think it was played up a bit, he raised his bat up to the umpire to let him know he'd hit the ball and I said just to let the umpire, umpire and you bat and he said, 'no worries, you wicket-keep' and that was about it."
With Australia looking to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, Paine is expecting England players to be on the receiving end of more verbals and Ben Duckett's suspension for reportedly pouring a drink over James Anderson in a Perth bar could be on the agenda.
"Oh, I'm sure someone will bring it up at some stage," Paine said. "But what's happening in their camp off the field has no effect on the way we are going to go about our cricket this week.
"I don't think it has been as bad as it's being made out to be. It's been played in pretty good spirit from what I've seen and heard, I'm sure that won't change.
"What I do know is that both teams, despite what it may look like, have a huge amount of respect for each other. I'm sure this week will be another tough week of Test cricket."
